The University of Washington is home to some of the most prestigious environmental programs and departments in the world. The quality and magnitude of the aggregate of environmental intellectual capacity and infrastructure within the University is virtually unparalleled: more than 400 faculty study and teach environmental issues across 29 academic units within seven separate colleges. The University has world class departments in all of the disciplines that are central to understanding the climate and climate change: the Department of Atmospheric Sciences has long been a world leader in weather, stratospheric dynamics, climate variability, and climate change; the School of Oceanography is one of the top three programs in the US; and the Polar Science Center is the preeminent international center for polar research.